No Eggs Feet Turned Gray
No Eggs Feet Turned Gray: I have a one year old Rhode Island Red hen. In the past month and a half she has stopped laying eggs and her feet have turned from orange to gray. She seems healthy, eats well, and has no other symptoms that I can see. I have three other hens and they are healthy. Answer: Feet turning gray could be the beginning of leg mite infestation. These mites burrow under the leg scales, into the tissue underneath. There they feed and breed. As the infestation continues the leg scales die, become thick and gray, and lift away from the legs. I prefer to use Ivermectin for this problem. I use the injectable form, withdrawn from the bottle with a needled syringe, but applied from the syringe after removing the needle. Generally one application is plenty to kill all the mites on that chicken. You will need to thoroughly clean and treat the coop as well, paying special attention to perches/roosts and wooden areas near or on the floor of the coop. Pyrethrin products work well on both the chickens and the coop, diluted and sprayed according to the directions on the product. |